


Scarabclan

by broken_01



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Evil StarClan (Warriors), Graphic Depictions of Illness, Original Fiction, StarClan (Warriors)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 20,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_01/pseuds/broken_01
Summary: located within the libyan desert in the western part of egpyt, the clan has a decent sized territory. the primary water source for the clan is the nile river which creates the eastern border of their territory. the clan's camp/dens are located within a rocky outcropping, there is a hidden oasis that the clan calls home. the dens are carved out of the rock itself surrounding the oasis, each rank having a separate den, with the leader being the highest den (closest to the gods) and the nursery being the lowest den (for kit safety). at the peak of this outcropping is a jutting formation that resembles a cobra's head with its mouth open. this is called the "mouth of the gods" and is considered the most sacred place in the territory. at the bottom of the 'mouth' is this is the "pool of stars" where the shaman & leader will go to speak directly with the gods, to make specific requests, where a new leader goes to gain their 9 lives, etc.
Kudos: 2





	1. Clan Allegiances

**PHARAOH & QUEEN**

**➣** Bonestar\- longhair oriental cream colorpoint tom w/ blue eyes.

↪ ★★★★★★★★★ 9/9 lives

 **➣** Thornstar \- shorthair oriental classic gray tabby molly w/ green eyes.

**SECOND**

➣Sandpatch \- shorthair oriental chocolate ticked tabby tom w/ brown eyes.

**ROYAL FAMILY**

➣Agavenectar \- shorthair oriental gray mackerel tabby tom w/ red eyes.

➣Crassulaflap \- longhair oriental dilute tabby tortoiseshell w/ green eyes.

➣Haworthiastripe - shorthair oriental dilute tabby tortoiseshell w/ yellow eyes.

➣Echeveriarose \- shorthair oriental dilute tabby tortoiseshell w/ green eyes.

**PRIEST**

➣Locustbuzz \- shorthair oriental fawn colorpoint tom w/ blue eyes.

**HEALER**

➣Brookberry \- shorthair bobtail dilute silver calico tabby w/ brown eyes.

**ADVANCED**

➣Viperstrike - shorthair oriental chocolate & white bicolor molly w/ green eyes.

➣Ghostspirit - shorthair oriental solid white tom w/ blue eyes.

**ENFORCERS**

➣Caimantooth \- shorthair dilute chocolate spotted tabby bobtail tom w/ heterochromatic eyes.

➣Coalcrypt \- hairless grey colorpoint tom w/ lots of scars & yellow eyes.

➣Scorpionslash \- shorthair devon rex grey classic tabby tom w/ green eyes.

➣Raggedsnap - shorthair lykoi grey mackerel tabbytom w/ orange-red eyes.

➣Deathstalker - dark brown mediumhair molly w/ red eyes & a scorpion tail.

**FIGHTERS**

➣Adderbark - shorthair brown tabby tom w/ amber eyes.

➣Duskmask - mediumhair black tabby tom w/ grey eyes.

➣Daisystep - shorthair solid white molly w/ grey eyes.

➣Marigolddawn - shorthair red tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Autumnsong - shorthair calico molly w/ gold eyes.

➣Streambare - longhair black tabby molly w/ gold eyes.

➣Crackleclaw - shorthair tortoiseshell molly w/ orange eyes.

➣Rottingcactus - shorthair smoke ghost tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Foxleap - longhair spotted orange tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Rainstrike - shorthair heavily scarred chocolate tabby tom w/ blind eyes.

➣Brambleheart - shorthair brown tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Blazingsun - mediumhair gold tabby tom w/ green eyes.

➣Hyenacackle - shorthair chocolate bicolor tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Pyrelight - mediumhair ginger tabby tom w/ orange eyes.

➣Mantelladart - shorthair dilute tortie molly w/ gold eyes.

➣Gilacrush - shorthair ticked tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Ocotillosplatter - shorthair petite calico molly w/ green eyes.

➣Corallurk - shorthair calico tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Cereusbloom - shorthair oriental chocolate bicolor molly w/ green eyes.

➣Dunefur - longhair cream tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Dayglow - mediumhair red tabby tom w/ tan eyes.

➣Screechclaw - shorthair calico ghost tabby molly w/ orange eyes.

➣Cremecurl - laperm fawn bicolor tom w/ one blind eye.

➣Grouseflesh - shorthair brown tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Verdinwing - shorthair black & white bicolor tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Waterslip - shorthair brown tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Rustpelt - shorthair red tabby molly w/ brown eyes.

➣Pricklypear - longhair calico van molly w/ amber eyes.

➣Thrasherglimpse - shorthair brown tabby tom w/ orange eyes.

➣Twistvine - shorthair black ghost tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Jaggedstripe - mediumhair solid black tom w/ yellow eyes.

**HUNTERS**

➣Fennecfox - mediumhair black sepia colorpoint tom w/ green eyes.

➣Honeybeetle - longhair dilute calico molly w/ orange eyes.

➣Bumbletumble - shorthair black tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Lechwehorn - shorthair red & white bicolor tabby tom w/ brown eyes.

➣Gloryrise - shorthair oriental dilute tortie molly w/ orange eyes.

➣Lilacdawn - shorthair oriental apricot calico molly w/ peach eyes.

➣Dustscream - shorthair british solid grey tom w/ amber eyes.

➣Weaselheart - shorthair grey tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Ostrichrun - mediumhair solid grey molly w/ amber eyes.

➣Ripplewind - longhair black tabby molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Fallinglotus - longhair manx grey tabby molly w/ brown eyes.

➣Crocusjolt - shorthair oriental grey bicolor tom w/ gold eyes.

➣Wheatcloud - laperm solid fawn tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Lostriver - shorthair blue abyssinian tom w/ green eyes.

➣Elkdapple - shorthair siamese seal tortie point molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Beetlescuttle - shorthair oriental tortoiseshell molly w/ green eyes.

➣Daturapetals - shorthair oriental silver tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Buzzardblaze - shorthair orange tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Paloverdeblossom - longhair oriental dilute calico molly w/ green eyes.

➣Cacaocrunch - mediumhair calico tabby molly w/ brown eyes.

➣Bitterapple - shorthair tortie ghost tabby molly w/ green eyes.

➣Toxixaphid - shorthair black & white bicolor molly, missing right eye.

➣Coppertooth - shorthair black tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Diamondfreeze - shorthair brown tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Peyotevision - shorthair oriental solid chocolate tom w/ green eyes.

➣Scorchback - longhair black & white bicolor w/ gold eyes.

➣Oasissight - shorthair brown tabby tom w/ olive eyes.

➣Cinderburn - shorthair tortoiseshell molly w/ orange eyes.

➣Umbrastone - shorthair solid black rusted tom w/ orange eyes.

➣Pygmycry - shorthair black smoke bicolor tom w/ brown eyes.

➣Riverrace - shorthair solid black tom w/ orange eyes.

➣Towheescour - shorthair grey tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

**APPRENTICES**

➣Bellpaw - shorthair dilute tortoiseshell molly w/ green eyes.

➣Chaparrelpaw - shorthair brown tabby tom w/ tan eyes.

➣Scorchpaw - longhair ginger tabby molly w/ amber eyes.

➣Lichenpaw - sphynx tortoiseshell point molly w/ yellow eyes.

➣Algaepaw - sphynx flame lynx point tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Mosspaw - sphynx seal point molly w/ green eyes.

➣Cruxpaw - shorthair ginger tabby tom w/ blind eyes.

➣Pyxispaw - shorthair cream & white tabby tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Aquilapaw - shorthair tortie calico molly w/ olive eyes.

➣Noyerpaw - shorthair red tabby tom w/ green eyes.

➣Noisettepaw - shorthair black tabby molly w/ yellow eyes.

➣Swamp Pool - longhair black tabby tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Geyser Gush - longhair black silver tabby tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Mud Splash - longhair black classic tabby molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Frost Toes - longhair black classic tabby molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Monarchpaw - shorthair oriental black tortie molly w/ teal eyes.

➣Lacepaw - shorthair oriental black tortie molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Admiralpaw - shorthair oriental red ghost tabby tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Galatheapaw - shorthair oriental grey tabby molly w/ yellow eyes.

➣Sinapispaw - shorthair oriental grey tabby tom w/ yellow eyes.

➣Pierispaw - shorthair oriental solid white tom w/ green eyes.

**NURSING-MOTHERS**

➣Flameskipper \- longhair red tabby munchkin molly w/ brown eyes.

➣Canyoncry \- shorthair dilute dealpoint lynx bicolor molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Frostglaze \- shorthair snow bengal lynx colorpoint molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Lilacdawn \- shorthair apricot calico orientalmolly w/ peach eyes.

➣Elkdapple \- shorthair siamese seal tortie point molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Shrikewhistle \- shorthair grey tabby oriental molly w/ green eyes.

**KITS**

➣Persimmonkit \- mediumhair red tabby polydactl tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Clementinekit \- mediumhair red & white tabby polydactyl munchkin tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Carrotkit \- medumhair red tabby polydactyl munchkin tom w/ blue eyes.

➣Maplekit \- mediumhair tortoiseshell polydactyl molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Chasmkit \- shorthair brown & white tabby molly w/ blue eyes.

➣Snailkit \- longhair calico molly w/ green eyes. 


	2. Humble Beginnings

it had been over a moon since he had last set eyes upon his sister's red and white form; she had gone out in search of herbs, which were quite difficult to find within their desert home, and it was not uncommon for viperstrike to be gone for several weeks at a time. the pair of them were born into this life, into a bloodline of orientals whose lineage could be traced back to some of the first cats who had formed scarabclan, so he knew that if anyone could handle themselves out there in the harsh desert, it was his sister. but still, she typically took a warrior with her, per his request for safety; he knew she hated it, feeling like he was sending her a babysitter, and this last time she had snuck off without the fighter assigned to go with her. and she had been out there longer than she normally was, so he couldnt help the worry in the back of his mind that something had happened to her. slipping out of his den, he silently made his way along the rocks and climbed down into the mouth of the gods, deciding he would ask for his sisters safe return to the clan soon. he made every pawstep carefully, as the path was a difficult one, very slippery & tight; he however knew the path down to the pool of stars by heart due to the sheer number of times he had taken it. slipping into the bright turquoise water, he felt a shiver run up his spine at the cold water; he knew it would be so cold, it always was, but somehow it still managed to sneak up on him. as he swam out further into the pool so that he could no longer touch the bottom, and then he shut his blue eyes as he began to pray. just as always, it was although he no longer had control of his body, merely floating there, and thats when he saw a brilliant rainbow. he smiled, knowing that meant he would be heard. as three forms approached him, in this vision he bowed down to them; the falcon landed about a foot away from him, with the jaguar coming up on its left side and the jackal coming up on its right side. the kind black jaguar stepped closer to the king and nudged him kindly with her head before returning to her place by the other gods sides; the falcon's dark brown eyes were locked on the flamepoint cats form, and the god nodded at him to say it was time for him to speak. "your highness's; Ra, Bastet, Anubis. as always, thank you all for taking the time to hear my request. i beg of you three to bring my sister back to me, healthy and unharmed. as you know, she went out over a moon ago to search for herbs, and it is unlike her to be gone for so long. please..." the three creatures took in his words, looking at each other and speaking in a nonverbal way. finally, the black jaguar Bastet spoke; "as you know, we cannot make any promises. but we shall see what we can do to aid you. farewell, bonestar. until next time." and just like that, he was in the present again, floating in the pool. swimming back to the edge, he climbed out and shook the water from his short coat. climbing back up through the narrow pathway, he decided the best thing he could do was do a border patrol to see if he could find her, as well as do some hunting to distract himself.


	3. Reunions & Loss

as the flamepoint tom-cat emerged from the mouth of the gods, his mind still clouded with concern for his missing sister, he heard this all-too-familiar sharp yowling voice coming from within the greenery of the oasis. he had to force himself to keep from grinning, which would have been a rare feat, and he tried his best not to rush down the rocky landscape and into the grass & trees. approaching the white & red form of his sister, he noticed she had a small grey fluffball at her side, and she was scolding him for some reason or another. "really viperstrike, you just got home & you're already yelling at someone? how typical." approaching her at a reasonable pace, he allowed a deep purr to rumble in his throat as he rubbed his head against hers. of course, typical viperstrike fashion, she scoffed at him & pulled away, returning her paws to checking over the grey apprentice beside her before replying to her twin. "oh really bonestar, like you're one to judge me brother. shouldnt you be overjoyed that i've returned, and with one of our missing apprentices?"  
  
at her words, the tom immediately scrunched his eyes together, slightly confused, and turned his focus to the little tom that his sister was looking over for injuries. thats when he realized who the apprentice was, & his focus was intensely on the small tom, practically getting in his face with how close he was; he meant nothing malicious but lord was he in shock. "dustpaw! where the hell have you been? toadcroak and you went out for training exercises two weeks ago; we thought you were dead!" his harsh tone & stern eyes caused the nervous apprentice to let out a bit of a fearful squeak, practically balling in on himself so that his body appeared as small as possible as he stuttered out to speak. "there was a sandstorm so we had to take shelter! there was some rocks and we dove into this little hole that we saw. but-but... after the storm was over, toadcroak's foot slipped and he stepped too far back into the den and... there was a monitor lizard. he-he-he didnt stand a-a chance... i bolted out when i heard his screams, and when i looked back, all that i was was blood.. i had to keep running. and then i just i got lost and hadnt been able to find my way back to camp."  
  
he lowered his head in shame as tears welled up in his eyes, and thats when viperstrike jumped in again. "lucky for him, i found him out there, so far he was practically in the clan of ra's territory. he doesnt appear to have any injuries; just dehydration and close to starvation." the king was still trying to process; toadcroak had been close to his and viper's age; the three of them had grown up together, & while he never would admit it out loud, he considered the tom to have been a friend. the loss... shaking his head he cleared his throat. "dustpaw, let viperstrike do as she sees fit with you and then go get some rest." he turned his back on the two cats and climbed up to his den's ledge, letting a loud yowl ring out in the oasis. he paused, waiting for all eyes to be on him before he spoke. "a lost member has been returned to us, thank the gods! dustpaw is shaken but uninjured. the unfortunate news, is that dustpaw will need a new mentor. he will be given a week to rest and recuperate before this new mentor will be assigned to him."  
  
his large ears perked up at the sound of voices, and he heard the confusion in the clan as much as he saw it; there were questions about toadcroak circulating between all of the cats. he didnt want to bring it up, but he knew he had to hide his pain & put on a strong face for the clan. letting out a sharp hiss to regain everyones attention, he spoke out again. "toadcroak was killed by a monitor lizard; this is why dustpaw did not return to us, because without toadcroak he, as such a young apprentice, got lost. toadcroak will not be forgotten, and although his ending was not how we had envisioned it, but it was not in vain. we know that he is with the gods now, among the stars. tonight, we will hold a vigil for him starting at sundown; all who are old enough to participate will not sleep nor speak tonight." with a nod of his head to the clan, they dispersed, and he slipped into his den to mourn the loss privately.


	4. New Mentorships

Bonestar took a deep breath as he leapt up onto his den's cleft, letting out a loud meow to catch the clan's attention before he began to speak. “It has been over a week since the return of dustpaw and the loss of toadcroak. dustpaw has had time to rest and rejuvenate, and has been cleared by viperstrike as in good health. and so it is time for him to go back to his hunter training. I have thought long and hard about this decision, and prayed to the gods about their opinion on the matter; together we have come to a conclusion. dustpaw will now be mentored by oryxstreak. they will begin training together today. clan dismissed.”  
  
the grey and white tom tore his eyes away from the king and began to search those in the gathering for his new apprentice. he spotted the small grey form off by himself at the edge of the group, appearing very on edge and jumpy. oryxstreak let out a bit of a sigh; they would have to work on dustpaws fears. he understood; the young apprentice had been through a traumatic experience, and while he may physically be healthy, he clearly had psychological changes that he needed to get over. as the clan began to disperse to do their various assignments and tasks, he approached the skiddish tom, who practically jumped out of his skin when oryxstreak cleared his throat to catch the apprentices attention.  
  
“dustpaw, come. we’ll remain within the oasis today, and just focus on learning some basic fighting moves. while you are going to become a hunter someday, it is important that we still have a basic understanding of how to fight, in the case that danger presents itself unexpectedly.” he bobbed his head in the direction of a small grassy hill that was located on the eastern side of the oasis where the clan called home. it was commonly used my mentor/trainee pairs during initial training sessions with a still young apprentice that was not yet ready to leave the oasis and begin training in the sandy desert. while dustpaw had left the camp before with toadcroak, due to the changes in his personality from the loss of his past mentor, oryxstreak pretty much wanted to start fresh with a clean slate for the apprentice. the small grey tom nodded his head respectfully as he followed his new mentor over to the flat-ish area to begin this new training. 


	5. Love

duskmask was always known as the grumpy fighter who was known for snapping at pretty much everyone who tried to get close to him. he had not been born to the clan, and had to prove his worth to the clan, to the leader before bonestar ruled. the trials to be accepted as one of the clan were incredibly difficult, made so hard so that most outsiders would not successfully be able to pass them, and upon failing would have to be killed so they didnt prove an exposure risk to the clan. but duskmask was tough. he was the age to be accepted as a young warrior, someone old enough to have a history that he didnt want to share or discuss with others. the ragged tabby tom grew up as a street cat in cairo egypt, one of many that had no home or family to call his own. the ones he was born to left him as soon as he was old enough to fend for himself; technically still too young, he was only five moons when his mother left him. he had never known his father, and while he had 3 siblings, they all died before reaching 3 moons. a hard life was all he had ever known; another rogue tom found him and took a form of pity on him. they never had a loving or even kind relationship; it was very much tough love. bear helped him survive until he was fifteen moons old, when a stray dog attacked and killed the older tom. he felt safer wandering the desert for many moons before watching the clan for a few, deciding he wanted to join. it was ten moons ago now.  
  


* * *

  
"come on, lets take a walk." the gray and white tom said, his voice soft as he smiled at the molly that he had been slowly falling for over the last few moons. they climbed out of the little oasis that they called home, and walked in comfortable silence at each others side, their tails twining together subconsciously over time. they made their way towards the nile river; it was the clan's major source of water outside the oasis, but it was also a beautiful place to just sit and talk away from the prying eyes of the clan. the pair climbed up one of the palm trees that lined the edge of the river, laying down close to one another. for awhile, they talked about this and that, anything really to kill time, give them more time together. clearing his throat for a moment, he had to mentally gain the courage to speak before he did. "look, honeybeetle, i need to get something off my chest. recently, we've been getting closer and I.. i'm in love with you honeybeetle. will you be my mate?" his voice began to waver, his confidence lacking as he worried about her answer. the dilute calico purred deeply, immediately rubbing her head against his. "of course oryxstreak. i love you too. i would love nothing more than to be your mate." after that, the pair decided to have some private time together before returning to camp.  
  


* * *

  
after having an excellent start to his week, oryxstreak had pretty much been walking on air, he was in such a good mood. so when he was announced to go out into the desert sands on a hunting patrol with his new mate and his apprentice, he knew that he needed to focus on training his apprentice, honing the young tom's hunting skills. "dustpaw, come. stay at my side. lets see if you can catch some prey today, alright?" he tilted his head in the direction of the camp exit, and the little apprentice followed without a word. dustpaw used to be an energetic young tom, full of life, always smiling and asking questions of everyone he was around. but ever since the poor tom witnessed his previous mentor be killed, practically ripped apart, that completely changed the russian blue. he became much more secluded, very quiet/talking to almost no one, and although he used to be very skiddish directly after the attack, he had been gaining slightly more self-confidence recently.


	6. Families Growing

duskmask, adderbark, and sandpatch had been doing a patrol of the scarabclan borders, and an unfamiliar scent drifted across the trio but it was mixed with another smell, one far darker. it had the rust-like scent of blood, as well as this deep musky smell that could only be attributed to one thing; death. the three felines shared a knowing look before silently stalking towards the scent. it was coming from the edge of the nile river, and adderbark had made a quiet comment about it probably being nothing but an unfortunate croc's meal, but duskmask recognized some underlying scent being hidden by the blood and death. it was a scent that he, as a former street cat, was all too familiar with; it was the scent of a rogue who had likely come from the nearby city of cairo, where he himself was from as well. his pace quickened a bit, unable to help but wonder if it was someone that he had known. sandpatch hissed out at him to wait, but he was too focused in now, especially as he spotted the black form curled up underneath a rock, several yards from the river.  
  
his nostrils flared as he got close enough to see the whites of the cat's eyes, and as he looked around, he spotted what looked like a blood trail coming from the river and leading to where the body lay; it was a strange pattern, quite wide and flat, and appeared as though the cat had been dragged or had dragged itself from the water's edge. sandpatch approached the river's edge, keeping alert as he took in all the signs, and called out that "it seems as though she had been attacked by a crocodile while swimming across the river. looks like she got away and dragged herself up the river bed, to that rock where she bled out. her injuries were likely too severe." adderbark had already pretty much checked out from the situation, not caring about the cat as its life and death had nothing to do with him, and had leapt up onto the rock to look out at the flat land around them, keeping watch to make sure there was no danger approaching the patrol while the other two focused in on the dead she-cat.  
  
duskmask wouldn't walk away though, and instead he took a step closer to the black form; he could have sworn he saw her stomach moving for a moment... he was about to think that he was just seeing things when he heard a tiny mew, and thats when everything clicked for him. "she has a kit!" he gently but forcefully pushed the black molly onto her other side, and it revealed a tiny black and white kit with deep gray eyes that were barely even open; the little creature was hardly a moon old, and was cowering against its mother. he immediately crouched down to make his body as small as possible, softening his eyes and his voice; he was reminded of his mate's little one icekit. "its alright little one. we wont let any harm come to you, i promise. we're going to give you a new home where you will be safe." the black and white kit tried to open its eyes wider to take him in but it couldnt yet, and so it had to decide to trust him or not. taking a step towards him, the little molly was afraid but she tried to sound brave. "i'm aphid. lets go home." the brown tabby tom felt the eyes of his two clanmates on him, clearly having heard him talking to someone, but he picked the little kit up by the nape of her neck, and the trio began to make their way back to class.  
  
  


* * *

  
there was only one queen-mother currently residing within scarabclan; honeybeetle had recently come out as pregnant and had been moved to the queen-mother's den as she was getting closer to her due-date. as the trio of toms returned to the camp, sandpatch sought out the clan healer to check over the kit for any possible health concerns, however duskmask had a different path. he made his way towards the sweet scent of honeybeetle, who was currently lounging about in front of her new den. it was like her motherly-instincts had already kicked in, because little aphid had barely let out a tiny squeak by the time honeybeetle had waddled over to the tabby tom, who gently set down the black and white kit infront of the calico molly. "honeybeetle, this is aphid. we found her near the border. she lost her family and-" the tom hadn't even gotten around to finishing his sentence before the molly interrupted him, already attempting to groom the dried blood from the kit's coat. "i would love to be your new mother, darling. if you'll have me." the little kit had immediately fallen into the warmth of the soft molly's touch, and had begun to close its eyes, finding comfort in the grooming. "yes please." she whispered out softly, her voice barely audible. the calico purred deeply in her throat, gently nuzzling the kit. "thank you little one. you're name is aphid right? so in the clan we go about names a little different, they become a way of life. so you are, as of today, aphidkit." the calico picked the kit up in her mouth and slipped into her den to continue grooming her, and in a few minutes viperstrike's red and white form could be seen entering the den herself to do a check-up of the kit's overall general health.  
  


* * *

dustpaw was absolutely appalled with himself. he had gone training to get his hunting skills up to par with his mentor yesterday, and he had come really close but ultimately failed. he had caught the scent of the gerbils, but as he had stalked up to them, a gust of wind had blown sand in his face, causing him to sneeze and scare the gerbils away. he returned to camp devastated, but thats when he looked to the new tortoiseshell apprentice. autumnpaw had come to the clan as a part of a small group of cats who had sought refuge after the devastating loss of their clan. she had joined scarabclan as a fighter apprentice, but in her previous clan she had already achieved success during her training with hunting. so after he had failed so terribly at his training yesterday, he had gone up to the older apprentice to ask her if she would help him during his next training on hunting. after she agreed, the pair of them had gone to their mentors to seek their permission. he hoped that he would be able to actually catch something this time...


	7. Growing With Kits

orchiddapple was a very sweet molly, one who was still very naive about many things, and who trusted far too easily. she was the type of cat who wore her heart openly on her sleeve, and had not yet learned that there were cats who would take advantage of her for this. songweaver, or ivor as he said he liked to be called, was just another in this long list of cats who made their way into her heart without intending to stay. she had met him at the last clan gathering; he was a handsome ginger and white tom with green eyes and a charming smile. everything about him caught her under his spell, and she found herself speaking off with him while the leaders spoke; the pair had messed around a bit, and when their clans left the gathering to return home, she wistfully asked if she'd see him again, to which he made some suave comment that had her swooning. he had remained on her mind in the days following her return home to the scarabclan oasis. she had been confronted by a fighter, frostglaze, about her distracted mind and in admitting her feelings for the hiddenclan tom, the bengal molly had actually laughed at her. frostglaze stated that ivor was a known player, one who flirted with anyone with a pulse and breed with anyone that would let him; all he wanted was to create many progeny to carry on his strong genetics. orchiddapple found herself heartbroken at this announcement, and has become very reclusive since this confrontation occurred.

* * *

  
daisystep had held a protective streak over the young streampaw since shortly after she left the kits den and became an apprentice. at just 6 months old, her mentor had been distracted by the scent of a rogue when he had been teaching streampaw how to fish, and she had fallen into the river. the river itself was very fast moving, and full of sharp jagged rocks; it was said to be a miracle that she hadn't drowned, but daisystep had been passing by on a hunting patrol and heard the young molly's cries; daisystep had rescued streampaw from the river and rushed her to the medicine cats den immediately. her life was saved, but she had severe scarring all over her body that would never heal or go away. streampaw's own parents pretty much disowned her after her accident, and thats when daisystep became like an older sister/mother figure for the young one. daisystep had a forbidden relationship with a tom from another clan, not from love but for the longing to bring kits and thus strength to her clan. When their previous clan fell apart and the clan cats all went their separate ways, streampaw and daisystep stuck together, as they were all each other had. streampaw was smart and she knew that daisystep needed someplace safe to have her kits, and so when they stumbled across a scarabclan patrol by accident, but they were accepted into the clan. streampaw's scars were seen as a strength by the king, that she had fought to survive through something so difficult, and she was allowed to join scarabclan without passing the trials. daisystep was a bit more difficult in bonestar's eye to accept so willingly; she was pregnant and confided in him and thornstar that the father was not from her previous clan, but from another clan. it made him wonder if she would be able to be loyal to his clan, but after thornstar talked with her privately and learned why she had gotten pregnant, she convinced bonestar that daisystep would be loyal to them, and so the nursing mother was also allowed to join the clan without the trial.


	8. Forbidden Romances

ghostspirit hardly ever left the clan camp; he was a shaman, who spent most of his time down praying to the gods at the pool of stars. on top of his lack of experince in the actual desert, his white fur had no useful purpose; he stood out at night and during the day he ran the risk of burning under the desert heat, which truly was not making this task they had been assigned any easier. viperstrike hissed in annoyance as she heard ghostspirit trampling along behind her, and turned to stalk towards him, her ears pinned flat against her skull. "if you keep stomping along like you've never hunted before in your life, we will never get this bloody thing over with. so can you please, for the love of the gods, just focus on walking quietly so that i can actually catch one of these stupid little things?!" the quiet tom felt his ice blue eyes widen as the healer snapped at him, keeping his mouth shut as he nodded his head silently, which seemed to appease the white & red bicolor enough to turn away from him. the pair had been out since before the sun came up, and it felt like every time they came close to catching anything, something happened to scare it off at the last moment. after her harsh words, the pure white tom took time with every step he took, keeping his blue eyes locked on the ground before him as he made sure each pawstep was not going to upset his partner. this focus on his steps caused him to run right into viperstrike's hind end as she came to a quick stop; her body tensed in annoyance, & he knew if she wasnt so focused on the little black creature infront of her, she would have turned and whacked him on the nose. viperstrike's green eyes were locked on a black curled tail that was peaking through the sand in a small rocky patch, and her lips curled into a smirk; finally, she could end this. in one swift motion, she pounced, one paw holding the tail down as the other snapped the poisonous stinger off. the arachnid squirmed out of the sand, trying to turn to grab her with its front pincers, but she quickly bit off its head, ending the movement so the creature lay limp in her mouth. "come on, stop staring, lets go already." she hissed out through the scorpion in her mouth, bounding back towards the hidden oasis that their clan called home. ghostspirit sighed deeply as he followed the larger molly, not at all excited by the ceremony facing them back at camp.  
  
by the time the pair scaled the rocky outcroppings that surrounded their camp, the sun had set and the moon had risen high into the sky. the yellow eyes of the fighter standing watch landed on the pair of them, and adderbark smirked at how annoyed viperstrike looked. "took you long enough." he chuckled out, not even bothered when the molly hissed at him in response to his words. the bulky tom quickly scaled to the highest rock before letting out three loud yowls to wake up all clan cats who had gone to bed, instead of waiting for the pair of cats to return from their task. two cats that had not fallen asleep were the king and queen; thornstar sat calmly off to the side of their den, her green eyes locked on the pacing form of her mate. bonestar had been pacing back and forth along the length of their den since the sun had set, never expecting the pair to take so long to catch one tiny scorpion. he had muttered things like 'what if there was a sandstorm', 'what if she got stung and was lying dead somewhere', 'what if she got so annoyed with ghostspirit that she attacked him and felt guilty returning to camp without him'; among other things. however, as he heard the deep yowls of adderbark, he raced to the lip of the den, his blue eyes locked on the forms of his sister and the shaman. he joined the fighter in calling the clan to awaken with a piercing yowl, causing his mate to shake her head slightly as she joined him at his side. viperstrike & ghostspirit climbed the rocky walls to their leaders' den as the rest of the cats awoke from their sleep and gathered together at the base of the den wall. viperstrike took a seat next to her brother, as ghostspirit went to the other side and took a seat next to his sister.   
  
bonestar quickly nudged his sister in greeting before taking a step forward to address the clan. "they have returned from their hunt! ghostspirit and viperstrike together have brought us a fat-tailed scorpion, a prosperous sign that the gods have accepted them as a mated pair! from this day until they breath their last, viperstrike and ghostspirit will be bound in a way none can break. now, would you two please join me to share this scorpion together and symbolize to the clan the official start of your lives together?" he gestured with his head for them to join him, and so the two cats stepped forward, facing one another as viperstrike placed the scorpion's body between the two of them. thornstar now stepped forward to speak to the clan; "as they share this symbol of their combined strength, join me in chanting their names into the night sky, lifting them high to the gods." as the white oriental and the bicolor oriental munched down on the crispy arachnid, it was a good thing that the rest of the clan was too far off to see how frustrated the pair were. viperstrike's claws were retracting in and out, digging into the hard ground beneath her as hard as she possibly could, and whil ghostspirit's claws remained sheathed, his tail was flicking around at a rapid pace to show his own annoyance. much like their siblings, they had been assigned mates practically since they were born; very few cats within the clan were forced to follow this old-fashioned tradition, but unfortunately for them, viperstrike/bonestar's father blackjackal as well as ghostspirit/thornstar's father coyotehowl were both of that same mindset. luckily for one of the two pairs, they had actually grown feelings for one another as they grew up, and were more than happy to take one another as mates; that was thornstar and bonestar. but it was not as pleasant of an experience for viperstrike or ghostspirit; ghostspirit had known since he was an apprentice that he was only attracted to other toms, and viperstrike had a secret of her own; she already had a mate, bitterstem who was the healer of their neighboring clan, steamclan. 


	9. Arrivals & Growth

the dainty calico had had a fairly normal pregnancy; it was her first litter of kits, which to some may seem a bit odd as she was 42 moons old, but unlike some cats who find their mates when they are young, she had only met oryxstreak upon her arrival to the deserts that scarabclan called home. she and oryxstreak had a slow romance, taking at least a dozen moons to get to know each other; he called it courting, something she had never before heard of but liked the sound of. the only thing that honeybeetle didnt like about being pregnant was that she couldn't really leave the oasis that the clan called camp. it was more difficult to climb once she was so large, so clambering up the rocks to leave camp was just not possible for her at the moment. she felt a bit odd, waddling around the camp like a bloated whale, and she couldnt help but feel a bit useless, as she was unable to do her regular job and hunt to feed her clan. but that morning, it was like she knew something was different, was changing. she waddled her way to viperstrike's den, panting deeply as she felt this pain inside of her that she had never felt before. her eyes sought out the healer, only to find viperstrike no where to be seen, but the healer apprentice was sorting through herbs. "brookpaw, its happening, the kits - they're coming!" the queen squeaked out her words, and the apprentice felt her eyes widening in surprise. brookpaw raced out of the den for a moment, hollering about someone getting viperstrike and that honeybeetle's kits were coming. several cats raced out of the camp to find the healer, while several others went searching for the queen's mate so that he could be there when the kits arrived.  
  
  
several hours later, the dilute calico queen was finally able to relax back in the nursery, with two little kits curled up against her stomach, and her mate standing behind her with a purr rumbling deep within his throat. according to viperstrike and brookpaw, the birth went very smoothly with no complications whatsoever, so the first time mother was happy that everything went the way it should have. honeybeetle looked up as she heard paws approaching, and both the king and queen entered the nursery quietly. the oriental tabby queen smiled at the new family, and in a hushed voice spoke to the pair. "honeybeetle, oryxstreak, congratulations on your two beautiful kits. viperstrike told us both are healthy, which is wonderful news." once she finished speaking, the flamepoint king stepped forward to offer his wishes. "have you two decided on names yet? your kits are the first born this year, and the clan is eager to hear about them." the gray tom shared a look with his nursing mate, bending down to rub his forehead against hers softly, whispering something in her ear. honeybeetle looked up at her rulers as a sweet smile came to her face, her gentle voice quiet to not wake her sleeping kits. "yes we have. the first time we met, oryxstreak shared a toad with me from the prey pile. as an homage to how we met, both kits will have toad related names. the cream tom is canekit, and the tortoiseshell molly is mantellakit." the scarabclan king and queen shared a knowing look before smiling at the little family. bonestar lowered his head and backed out of the den to leave them alone, but as thornstar headed for the exit she turned her head around to say one final thing; "they are perfect names. the clan will be excited to meet them when they are older."  
  


* * *

  
ghostspirit had been spending more time than normal down at the pool of stars talking with the gods and the ancestors; he had this unshakable feeling that something was coming, something that was big and would change the clan. he had not yet gotten a true prophecy, and he felt like everytime he went into the pool he saw things through a blurry haze; like a sandstorm that was blurring his vision. but finally, he got something to mull over, to try and decipher. the white tom was out in the middle of the desert, but the three gods were no where to be seen, nor could he hear any of the ancestors. there was a strong sandstorm raging, and he could barely keep his paws on the ground. but then out of no where a falcon came shooting out of the sky and landed infront of him; the large bird was bigger than he was, but he knew this falcon, and immediately he bowed to the god. "my god Ra, please, I beg of you to share something with me of the future of the clan, anything." the falcon said nothing, it shared not a single word, but it seemed to have something in its beak, which after careful consideration, it dropped at ghostspirit's paws before shooting off like a bullet through the sky again. the tom was ripped from the vision and torn back into the real world, his heavy breathing racking his entire body, but it was the insect at his paws that his blue eyes were locked on. "a locust? what does this mean..."   
  
the tom had hardly gotten any sleep that night; he was in his den, in his nest yes, but he was tossing and turning, trying but failing to determine the meaning behind the locust, which he still had sitting in the corner of his den staring at him. he was awoken by a hair-raising feeling causing the fur along his spine to raise, and he slunk to the mouth of his den, his blue eyes peering out at the oasis that scarabclan called home. was there... a ghost standing on top of the mouth of the gods? there was a small pale cat form, and for a moment he believed that he was truly staring at a spirit, standing up on the tip of the cobras head rock that lead down to their most sacred pool of stars.. the silence of the night was cut short by a screech as the cat was tackled by a much larger form. you couldnt really see it, but the dark tabby tom was adderbark, who had been standing guard when the strange cat had found their secret home. and he crept up the cobras head rock to tackle the smaller oriental cat from behind, and the two cats came tumbling down the rocky cliffs in a totally ungraceful way that lead to bumps, bruises, and bleeding cuts on both of the cats as they finally reached the grassy floor. the small apprentice-aged tom was easily pinned by the older, stronger fighter who seemed ready to slit the intruders throat without a second thought. the flamepoint form of the clans king came barreling down from his den, hurling harsh words at the loner, asking how he found their oasis, who had told him or who he had followed, what his plans were, and threatening to kill him before he had even a second to respond to one of the questions thrown at him.   
  
he didnt know what really took over his body; ghostspirit was normally a very passive cat, one who never fought or hardly even argued. but it was like the falcon form of Ra had grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him off the side of his den-cliff and onto the ground where a crowd of cats was gathering around the intruder. he didnt think before acting, something he absolutely never did, and his lean form tackled the much larger fighter off of the cream-point apprentice, flinging him to the side before curling around and standing over the bleeding youngsters form. his ears pinned flat against his skull as he bared his fangs at the king, his blue eyes shining out in the darkness in an eerie way, and it almost was like a mist rose up from Anubis' hell pits and surrounded the tom at that moment, truly making him look like the ghost that was his namesake. "this tom is locustpaw, and he has been sent here by the god Ra. he found our oasis because Ra showed him where to go. i received a vision about him shortly before going to bed this evening. he is to become my apprentice, he is the future shaman of scarabclan. he will not be harmed, or the wrath of the gods will be upon us."


	10. Growing Families

note to self - bonestar & thornstar talking about kits. viperstrike going to visit bitterstem & bringing up kits. daisystep goes into labor. autumn test.


	11. Love

ghostspirit never really thought he would find love; he was a newborn still when he was assigned his future rank and his future mate. he knew that he was gay from a young age; he never felt himself be attracted to any of the mollies like the other toms. he thought mollies were fine friends but he couldnt foresee himself actually falling in love with one. of course, he knew he had to be with viperstrike, so he just believed that he would live his entire life without ever experiencing love. but then he met agaricthroat by pure chance at a gathering, and his entire life changed. the handsome tom had approached his grumpy self as he was sitting off to the side, not really wanting to be at the gathering after a terrible journey arguing with his 'mate'. they clicked instantly, and within a few moons his feelings for the tom grew exponentially. shortly after that, the pair met sunsplash; the molly's bright personality and sweet disposition made both of the toms laugh, and they all considered each other close friends. ghostspirit and agaricthroat had discussed coming out about their secret romance to sunsplash at the next gathering, and as they lead her aside to have the discussion, she came right out and said she already knew (she could tell from being so close to them and watching them interact), and she was more than willing to surrogate for them if they ever wanted kits.  
  


* * *

  
thornstar had to get her suspicions confirmed, not only by brookpaw but also by viperstrike. she had been feeling a bit off lately, not having as much energy as normal, and personally thought she had begun to gain weight fast. brookpaw had stated that she agreed with thornstar's belief, but the queen was not content without the opinion of the senior healer, and so she had waited for viperstrike to return from her desert outing. but as soon as the healer returned, she bombarded her with her suspicions, and the moment that viperstrike made eye contact with her and nodded her head, she clambered her way out of the healers den and up the cliffside to the den she shared with her mate. the tabby molly practically tackled her mate to the floor, nuzzling her face against his chest with a purr rumbling deep in her chest. bonestar chuckled loudly as he asked "well what's this about, what did I do?" the molly leaned forward to touch noses with the pale tom as she spoke; "i'm pregnant. we're going to be parents bonestar!"  
  


* * *

  
viperstrike had spent the last several days over in the steamclan territory, sharing medicinal knowledge with their clan healer, known as a rust mender. bitterstem was the one cat in the entire world she felt like she could trust with her heart and soul; she was known for being brutally honest but keeping her inner feelings to herself. not with him though. he had stolen her heart, something the snarky molly had never thought possible, and recently she came to a realization; she was expecting his kits, and she was overjoyed by the thought of having kits with the love of her life, her best friend. she needed to head back to scarabclan soon, and she wanted to tell the havana tom before she returned to the oasis camp. they were alone in his den, shuffling through herbs and conversing in quiet tones. her voice got even softer, more hushed, as she finally brought the topic up. "hey bitterstem. there's something i've gotta tell you, and if i dont just say it straight out, well hell am i even me?" she chuckled a little sarcastically at her own comment. "i'm pregnant. don't freak out, we can do this okay?" before she had even finished speaking, she could see the look of shock and panic on his face, his mouth starting to gape open and his eyes widening so the whites showed. the molly glance at the den opening to make sure no one was watching before she leaned forward to lick his forehead and nudge his shoulder. "i have a plan okay? just trust me baby."  
  


* * *

  
his life had never been easy by any means. he has vague memories of life before scarabclan; his parents were always fighting, but his brother was his best friend. however, one day there was a particularly nasty fight, and the family was split in half. their father took lakekit and their mother took coalkit and they went off in opposite directions. he was 4 moons old at the time, and his mother met a tragic end due to severe burns to her pink skin and severe dehydration. coalkit was found curled up against his mother's body by a scarabclan patrol, and he used up the last of his energy trying to fight oryxstreak, the tom who picked him up. his stubborn streak showed the clan cats that he had fight in him, a will to live, even though he fell unconscious shortly after. he was stubborn his entire life, determined to become a fighter even though he was ridiculed horribly for being so different. so when many cats first looked at him, all they saw was his scars and assumed he was a mean/nasty tom. so several gatherings ago when he first came across another hairless sphynx cat; brindlewhisker of pineclan was a stunning tortoiseshell molly and he immediately approached her in a desire to connect with someone who may have experienced life in a similar way to him. turns out she was very laidback and calm, but she also had this charismatic way about her that got his blood rushing. she wasn't necessarily someone he saw himself being with in the long run, as she was a bit too lax for his tight-ass, but he had fun around her.


	12. Adoption of a Stray

honeybeetle and oryxstreak felt nothing but love as their family began to grow little by little. their first daughter, the black and white bicolor molly that they had found and adopted several moons ago, aphidkit, was growing up and was only a moon away from becoming an apprentice. on a border patrol last moon, adderbark found a kit the same age as aphidkit, but it was a longhaired orange tom who wandered a bit too far from the city and got lost in the desert. lucky for him the patrol found him, and the second he was brought back to the camp the couple took one look at him and offered to take him in. little foxkit was as stubborn as could be, and he tried to act like he was all grown up, but he got scared as a large steppe eagle swooped above them and he ran into honeybeetle's fur. several weeks went by before a kit, hardly older than their own mantellakit and canekit, showed up at the base of the rocks where the clan's camp resided. hyenakit was found pacing the rockwall, yowling for someone, anyone, to find him and take him someplace safe.  
  
oryxstreak was preparing to go out on a patrol when he heard the little one's cries; at first he thought it was one of his own, and he rushed to the nursery, where he carefully counted all four tiny heads curled up against their mother. he quickly slipped his gray body up over the cliffsides, his eyes landing on a small brown and white kit. he skated down the side of the rocks, letting out a loud meow to alert the kit of his presence before he arrived. hyenakit raced up to him and curled into his chest, letting out a final pitiful mew. the older tom picked up the kit by his scruff and took much more care climbing up the rocky cliffs going back into the camp. oryxstreak brought the small tom into the nursery, where he brushed up against his mate to awaken her. the pair of mates spoke in hushed tones, with honeybeetle immediately beginning to groom the dirt off the kit. as the king bonestar entered the den to check on his own pregnant mate, his blue eyes landed on the new kit suckling at the dilute calico's side instead of the tabby form of his own mate. he raised a curious eyebrow, not even needing to speak for his question to be asked. honeybeetle gave the king a small smile, her voice quiet as she spoke to the king; "hyenakit was found by oryxstreak, abandoned and all alone. with your approval, my king, we would like to add him to our family." the flamepoint oriental tom looked at the ever-growing family and provided a small smile and slight nod of his head in approval before he turned to rejoin his own upcoming family.


	13. Family Secrets & Apprenticeships

sandpatch had requested to go on a patrol into the deserts by himself, something he did once a moon; he always told his king that he needed this alone time to pray to the gods, reminiscing on the loss of his mother, and that was always enough of an explanation for the king. but it was a lie, a lie he had gotten very good at telling in fact, for as he made his way through the desert sands, he did not stop his travels until he was at the bustling two-leg city. he made his way through the streets like a pro, sauntering past two-legs and street-cats alike, a true expert who knew exactly where he was going and how to get there. he clambered up the metal staircases that lined the outside of the apartment building with ease, leaping from one step to another until he was more than halfway up and then he lept down onto the little balcony and made his way up to the windowsill of the apartment, where he scratched gently at the wood. a pretty brown tabby oriental's face appeared from the inside, and she slipped the window open with her shoulders, a large grin on her face as he slunk into the apartment. she practically tackled him with licks as she rubbed her body up against him, and he purred deep in his throat. "sandpatch, i've missed you." she cooed out, and he licked her forehead as he replied "me too mother, me too."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
it was obvious that the king was in a great mood as he slipped out of the low-lying nursery and sauntered his way across the camp, climbing quickly up the rock-wall to his den, also known by the clan as the high cliff where meetings were called. his kits had been born several days before, and while he wished to spend all of his time with the love of his life and their five new beautiful kits, it was the day for two of the clan's older kits to become apprentices, and as he stood on the edge of the cliff, he let a loud meow ring through the clan, calling all of the cats to attention, to gather below. "will aphidkit and foxkit please join me on the high cliff." now he knew it was a tall climb, but all kits had to make the climb to prove they were ready, strong enough even, to become apprentices. the black and white molly and the orange tom practically bolted from the side of their younger siblings and parents, tearing up the cliffside like it was a race of some kind, to get to the top first. aphidkit made it every so slightly faster than her adopted brother, due to her body type being more long and leggy versus his being more short and compact. he gave his sister a bit of a dirty look before they split up to each side of their king; aphidkit stood on the left side of bonestar, and foxkit stood on the right side, both looking up to him eagerly. "lechwehorn and adderbark, will you please join us as well, on the high cliff?" his voice rang out as he called down to the two toms, each of whom were surprised to hear their names called but still made their way up the rocky cliff, slipping behind the king and two kits, as neither of them knew which was intended to become whom's apprentice.  
  
"foxkit, will you please step forward." the orange tabby tom eagerly rushed infront of the other cats, his yellow eyes glancing between the two possible mentors as he wondered who he would get paired with. "foxkit, it is time for you to begin your training, to join the ranks of the apprentices. do you promise to honor the laws of scarabclan, to seek the gods approval in everything you do, and to respect your mentor and your rulers at all times?" the young tom was clearly antsy, as he could hardly stand still, but he held his head up high in pride as he spoke his response; "yes i do." the king nodded his head before continuing to speak. "foxkit, from this day forward you shall be known as foxpaw. you shall train to become a fighter for scarabclan, under the watchful eye of adderbark. he is a tough tom to please, and i expect him to be hard on you during your training; this is why he was chosen for you. adderbark, will you please join us and greet your new apprentice officially?" the grumpy dark tabby silently made his way from the shadows and walked straight up to foxpaw, his body tense, his face frowning, his tail twitching ever so often. he gave an abrupt nod of his head as he circled the apprentice, and in a movement quicker than lightning he made a slash across foxpaw's front shoulder, something shallow enough to heal fast but deep enough to scar. it was tradition, a mark that signified a cat's loyalty to the clan, given by the mentor intended to train them, but given only to those who had grown up within scarabclan. while technically foxpaw had not been born in scarabclan, he had been young enough when he was found and adopted into one of the families that he was considered to be their blood. adderbark nudged his new apprentice to the side, to make way for his sister to come up for her ceremony.  
  
"aphidkit, will you please come forward?" spoke bonestar, his voice still as clear and crisp as ever. the black and white molly gulped a bit in nerves as she slunk infront of the king. "aphidkit;it is time for you to begin your training, to join the ranks of the apprentices. do you promise to honor the laws of scarabclan, to seek the gods approval in everything you do, and to respect your mentor and your rulers at all times?" the bicolor molly nodded her head quickly, her voice squeaking out softly, "yes i do." the king gave her a small smile in comfort;"aphidkit, from this day forward you shall be known as aphidpaw. you shall train to become a hunter for scarabclan, under the watchful eye of lechwehorn. he is a tom filled with energy and attitude, something i pray rubs off on you; this is why he was chosen for you. lechwehorn, will you please join us and greet your new apprentice officially?" the orange and white tabby sauntered up with a cocky smirk on his face, dipping his head low to give a lick over his new apprentice's ear before he casually scratched her shoulder to scar it, just the same as her brother. it was then that bonestar stepped forward and called out to the clan; "please, everyone join me in officially welcoming our two newest apprentices, aphidpaw and foxpaw!"


	14. Power & Failure

frostglaze was not a bad cat; she was not malicious or cruel, nor was she typically self-serving. in her mind, the things that she desired were what she truly believed were best for the clan. frostglaze had been froststar of her birth clan, but by the time she had taken over as leader, the failures of the previous leader were too deep for her to fix, no matter how hard she tried, and so the clan fell apart. while she understood the necessity of it, she also felt like a failure for allowing her clan to fall apart under her leadership. when she found scarabclan, she had to hold her tongue and bide her time as a 'content' regular clan member, known as a soldier within this clan. but although it was different, she wanted to be the best she possibly could be, and so she spent countless hours studying the culture, the religion, and especially the laws.   
  
she had long since stopped thinking about the possibility of taking a mate or having kits of her own. she was getting up there in age, getting close to the point where she would soon no longer be able to biologically produce children of her own. and as she spent more and more time studying the history of scarabclan, she felt more unease and unrest with the way things were currently being run by the pharaoh and queen. but she couldnt justify staging a coup, about rebelling against bonestar and thornstar's rule, not just for herself and her own displeasure. that was until she met a certain tom who made her reconsider having kits of her own.   
  
he was a stocky gray and white tom cat with these piercing amber-yellow eyes that grabbed her attention from the first moment she saw him in passing on a border patrol. from that day on, frostglaze had begun to keep on the lookout for the tom with each passing border patrol that the went on, and while she didnt openly flirt with him in the presence of her clanmates, she certainly gave him longer looks and more-friendly smiles. there was one day when she managed to slink back to the end of her patrol, and conversed with him for long enough period of time that she convinced him to meet up with her later that evening, under the cover of nightfall.   
  
well that first real meeting went very well; the bengal molly rubbed up against the tom, allowing her tail to run underneath his gray chin, batting her pretty blue eyes. she shared a bit about herself to the tom; she wasnt looking for a lifelong partner, but she needed a good tom to provide her with strong kits to truly find her ultimate fulfillment. well brightgaze was more than willing to provide for frostglaze in this way, stating that he had no desire for a real relationship, but he was all for going out with a bang. however, a moon had passed since that meeting, and frostglaze was more than a little disappointed to find out she was not pregnant; she made sure to confirm her suspicions with the healer and healer apprentice both before going back to the hazeclan border to find brightgaze. she was determined to get pregnant, and so they were going to try again; she just had to find him.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
she couldnt believe it, she really couldn't understand what made her such a failure. she was her parents first kit, technically speaking, out of five siblings, and yet somehow she managed to fail to learn her first training skill. she could have handled it if the other regular apprentices all were successful and she had struggled, it would have been a blow but it would have been fine, however the fact that her brother foxpaw excelled during his combat training session was just the icing on the cake. their parents, oryxstreak and honeybeetle, had showered the orange tom with affection when his mentor told them how well he had done, but upon learning how miserably aphidpaw had done, they tried to comfort her and say she could do it again, but at that moment, nothing anyone could say would help her feel better. that evening she clambered up the rocky cliffside to a random little jutty-part where she curled herself into a small ball and simply cried, her entire body shaking horridly. to top it all off, she had somehow managed to hurt herself, and still felt the odd paste-like substance that coated the missing scrap of fur, which she thought smelled strange but had dealt with silently. the survival skill was said to have been either the easiest or hardest skill for a cat to learn; it encompassed many different pieces, from learning how to feed off of a cactus if necessary, to finding somewhere to successfully hide from their mentor who pretended to be a predator. well, aphidpaw had attempted to climb one of the slick palm trees in the center of camp, and she had been hiding perfectly well until her brother foxpaw saw her and hollered up at her, asking what she was doing. her mentor saw her, and she lost her footing, falling out of the tree and scraping her shoulder against a piece of the trunk that was jutting out.  
  
shaking her head to clear out the thoughts, she finally seemed to cry out all of her body's tears, and managed to compose herself enough to sit up, looking down at the clan with her dark, glistening eyes. she knew that viperstrike, the clan's healer, was still in the nursery with her five young kits, and her eyes watched the healer apprentice brookpaw slip out of the healer's den and into the nursery as well, likely to check on the two new additions, the newly pregnant canyoncry and gloryrise. the young apprentice didnt know what really overcame her, although from an outside perspective it was anger, vengeance, even venomous jealousy. she slunk down the rocks carefully, her darkened body half-hidden by the growing shadows as the sun faded away, and she made sure to keep her senses on high alert as she slipped into the healer's currently empty den. if anyone caught her, she could make up something about her shoulder still hurting from her failed training session that morning. she rustled through the healer's herb stock, looking for a dark berry she had heard stories of but never actually seen; deadly nightshade. there were dark berries sitting in the corner of the den, and a dark gleam filled her eyes as she grabbed a few berries in her mouth, especially careful not to bite into them, and quickly she slipped out of the den and made her way into the palm tree mini-forest in the center of the camp, setting the berries down in a safe place. she walked towards the fresh kill pile then, grabbing a small gerbil that still seemed very fresh, before returning to her little berry stash.  
  
using one sharp claw, she made an opening in the gerbil's stomach, and slipped a berry inside, pushing it down with her paw to crush the insides, making them disperse through the creature rather than being a solid berry. grabbing the gerbil carefully, she made her way through the camp, and her eyes spotted foxpaw approaching the apprentice den. she raced towards him, dropping the gerbil infront of him, and provided a smile; "foxpaw! i wanted to congratulate you for doing so good on your first training session. i hope that i can be as good as you when i do my combat training! i caught you this gerbil to congratulate you." she made sure to choose her words carefully to appeal to his cocky arrogance, and it seemed to work. "well thank you aphidki- oops i mean aphidpaw, haha. i'm sure you'll do good enough eventually." he smirked as he bit into the gerbil, quickly eating the small rodent. "oh wow, that has a really unique taste to it. i've never had such an interesting gerbil! thanks aphidki-aphidpaw." his smile faded however as he began to cough harshly, a seed from the berries getting caught in his throat, but he managed to get it unstuck and shook it off, jogging into the apprentice den to settle into his nest. aphidkit scrunched her eyes up, confused why he was't more sick; she thought the coughing was the first sign, maybe it took some time to work? however, as she stood up to enter the den herself, brookpaw the healer apprentice walked past, mumbling about missing blackberries, and mentally aphidpaw cursed; she must have grabbed the wrong berries.


	15. Forbidden Relationships Galore

gloryrise had been unable to stop thinking about tigerstrike since their last rendezvous at the gathering a few moons back; he was a fun tom who wanted to be more than his parents, something the molly understood, as she herself and her sister lilacdawn had been abandoned by their father before birth and their mother shortly after they were taught to hunt. they have found solace with one another, even temporarily, and that was how their brief relationship of pleasure happened. gloryrise never even considered the possibility of getting pregnant to the tom, but that was exactly what had happened, and while she had not planned on having any sort of future with the handsome orange tabby, she now had to consider him the father of her unborn kits, even if she did not desire to become his mate; she still wanted her kits to know who their father was. it was hard for her, as a lean-bodied oriental, to try and hide her pregnancy from her clanmates, but she was determined to go to the upcoming gathering and tell tigerstrike the news. she had confided in only one cat so far, her twin sister lilacdawn, who was helping her hide her weight gain under the rouse of being glutinous lately and eating more than she should.  
  
lilacdawn remained by her side the entire trip to the forest-y gathering place, not an uncommon thing for the pair of sisters, but her eyes were more alert of each step gloryrise took. from the moment they entered the clearing, her deep orange eyes sought out the bold orange form of tigerstrike, and she found him gathered together with some other cats from his clan; she recognized them only by their similar scents. as she approached the group, she made sure to meet the brown eyes, and gestured for him to join her. as they walked off to the side of the clearing for a bit of privacy, lilacdawn followed behind at a safe distance, sitting a few feet off with one large ear pointed back at them to listen while the other swiveled around. gloryrise sat down a bit uncomfortably, her stomach bulging as she sat, not too large yet but clearly larger than it was the last time they saw each other. "you know me tigerstrike, and so i am going to be blunt. i know neither of us planned to have a future together past the fun we had, but things have changed a bit since then. i'm pregnant with your kits. no, i dont want to be mates, but i dont want to raise my kits without knowing their father either. i know your leader has a leniency towards open borders at times, and so i would like to bring the kits to spend a moon with you in quickclan once they are born. i probably wont be able to come to the next gathering or two, as i'll be too close to giving birth and the kits will be too young, but my sister lilacdawn will be attending, and she will update you about how many kits we've had, what their names are, and when we plan on coming. that is, as long as this all is something you're willing to be a part of." she realized she had sort of just rambled, and made herself hush as to give him a chance to process before he replied. the tom was quiet for a few moments before he spoke again, nudging her softly. "i'll talk to sunstar about the situation. you're right, i dont think we should be mates, but i do want to have a relationship with my kits. i think its what my mother would have wanted." the two shared a soft smile with one another before gloryrise gestured for her sister to join them, to meet the tabby tom.  
  


* * *

  
their initial meeting was unplanned, and never did the molly think that the random conversation she chose to have with a bordering clan's tom would lead to anything past that one interaction. she had recognized the handsome tabby bicolor from passing patrols, his clan quickclan being one of the bordering clans of her own scarabclan. the gathering where they had met had been her first attending in awhile, and so as her clanmates arrived at the clearing, they each broke off from the group to interact with friends from other clans, and so her own light blue eyes had looked around for someone to talk to herself. her eyes met a pair of emerald green ones, and the tom's soft smile to her was enough to get her to approach; she had never actually spoken to him before, but during that night at the gathering, she began to grow surprisingly close to splashfall. that one time conversation turned into weekly or even twice-weekly meetings along their clans borders, just laying together and talking without filter.  
  
it was after one of these meetings that the molly had begun to feel physically different, and upon seeking out the aid of brookpaw the healer apprentice, she was told that it was no common sickness weighing her down, but that instead she was carrying kits. canyoncry left the healer's den in shock, but still found herself happy, in a surprising way. she kept her news to herself, wanting to tell the kit's father before she told anyone in the clan, and so she asked brookpaw not to tell until she herself was ready, to which the apprentice agreed. canyoncry felt this excited spring to her step as she slipped out of camp that evening, making her way to the scarab x quick border. she couldnt help but jog a bit faster as she neared the border, her blue eyes landing on the seated brown and white form of splashfall, and she snuck up behind him, bumping into his side with a deep purr, licking his nose quickly. "i have some news. and i dont know what you're going to think. i know we've been getting to know each other and i've really been enjoying that, and its unplanned i know but i'm pregnant with your kits." his eyes opened wide at the words, but he almost immediately nudged her affectionately, his jaw slightly open in surprise. "yeah you are right, but i'm happy to start a family with you. i'm sure that our kits will be beautiful, just like their mother."  
  


* * *

  
the scarabclan hunter/fighter ceremonies could be seen as a bit odd to those outside of their clan; an apprentice was given their adult name tentatively at the ceremony where they were sent out of the scarabclan territory on their trials/tests to prove their worth by gaining useful information for the clan, a process that typically took no less than two moons but could take up to seven moons.for whatever reason, streambare felt a calling to go towards the mountains in the far distance, a place she had never before even dreamed of going. but there was this stirring deep inside of her, and so she followed the feeling, passing through neighboring clan territories and two-leg cities; she stopped only to quench her thirst, catch something small to eat, or take a short power-nap for more energy. she could scent a large number of strange cats, and realized she was approaching the border of a territory. her paws slowed, as there was something different about this place that she could just feel, and her heterochromatic eyes wandered, looking for something but she didn't know what.  
  
until she saw it; a beautiful blue green bird with a massive tail of large extraordinary feathers. she has never seen a peacock before, or even heard of one, but the massive bird filled her with a sense of awe, and as it cocked its head at her, she began to follow it, feeling called to do so. while she kept herself aware of the birds location constantly, she also couldnt help but look at the large trees of the forest and the open grassy meadows; for someone who lived in the desert her entire life and had never attended a clan gathering, this was her first time out of the never-ending sand. the young molly was so interested in her surroundings, that she didnt realize the bird had stopped walking until she nearly ran into it, barely stopping in time, but still getting a mouthful of feathers. the bird almost looked like it was giving her a dirty look, and she was distracted by it so she didnt hear the large gray tom-cat approaching her from behind. "you know, its really impressive that you got that close to the peacock. normally they're nearly impossible to track down unless you're with a group." his words were enough to cause the molly to jump and the bird to fly away with a squawk.  
  
the broken tabby molly turned quickly to face the stranger, and couldnt help but notice how large he was and how fluffy. "I am Thunder of Coming Storm, but most cats just call me Thunder. and you are in our tribe's territory; may i ask why?" his voice was deep and she couldnt help but admire the handsome tone to it; if she could blush, she would have.&nbsp“I apologize for my intrusion. my name is streambare, im a fighter of scarabclan and I’m on my assessment journey. I felt called to this place for some reason, and when I saw the bird, it drew me in so I followed it. I mean no harm or disrespect to you or your - tribe did you call it?” She cocked her head to the side a bit, unfamiliar with his term, but she could see in his own eyes the same slight confusion and curiosity that she held. “yes, we are the tribe of falling blossoms. I’ve never met a clan cat before, but we’ve heard stories... normally I would be chasing you out of our territory by now, but the way that peacock seemed so calm and trusting of you, well I’ll just call it a good omen for you in the eyes of the tribe. come, I will take you to meet our healer blossomteller. perhaps the spirits have made her aware of your arrival already.”


	16. Tribal Life & Forbidden Families

lechwehorn found himself spending nearly all day, every day at the scarabclan northeast border for the past week or two. he knew that duskwillow would be kitting anytime, and he knew that she wanted him to take some of the kits to his clan. duskwillow spoke of their clan having too many kits at the moment for their leader's liking; eleven kits, before their own were born, however many duskwillow had. to him, eleven kits just sounded normal. although he knew he was exaggerating, he felt as though he had never known scarabclan to be without around fifteen kits, so he knew that his own would be welcomed. bonestar and thornstar looked at kits as a gift from the goddess bastet, a good tiding that the future of the clan would be beneficial. plus, under bonestar's rule, romances with cats of other clans had become much more normal than in the past few pharoahs; the stories were that in the past, forbidden kits were cast out into the desert as prey to the other animals, and their clan parent was beaten until they got the point. lechwehorn lay on a jagged rock, his gold eyes looking out at the chaosclan border, and then he saw movement. immediately he stood to his paws, letting out a loud meow to call to the approaching grey and white molly.  
  
he rushed to meet her, as she appeared to be struggling with two bundles in her mouth, and she set the kits down at his paws. "pygmykit is the tom, and screechkit is the molly. there's one more kit, another tom snowykit, that raptorstar is allowing me to keep within chaosclan." the orange tabby tom nodded, unable to help from asking; "when they're old enough, apprentices perhaps, could we perhaps bring them to meet here at the border?" the molly looked at the tom carefully for a few moments, shrugging a bit before nodding. "doesn't matter to me. keep them safe, lechwehorn." and with that, she had turned and made her way back into her territory. the orange bicolor tabby gently picked each kit up by the scruff, with pygmykit dangling quietly while his sister screechkit mewed angrily at once again being off the ground.  
  
he did his best to quickly but smoothly carry the kits to the rocky formation that surrounded the clan, and he grunted, looking up at the tall rocks, unsure how he would climb it with both kits safely. just his luck however, because at that time a patrol was returning to camp, and oryxstreak was among the cats. the grey tom quickly took the small tom from lechwehorn, who offered a grateful smile; he trusted the older tom completely with the kit. oryxstreak had two kits of his own, and had adopted three orphan kits as well. if anyone knew how to safely handle a kit, it was the grey tom. the pair of toms scaled the rocky cliffside easily, and oryxstreak followed lechwehorn into the nursery, where he approached the nursing-mother canyoncry and her single tom oasiskit. setting his daughter down at his paws, oryxstreak set the little tom down next to its sister, taking his leave from the nursery to find his own made. "canyoncry, everyone else has a large litter, and i dont want to be a bother to them... would you be willing to nurse my two kits, just until they're old enough to feed off of prey?" his voice was uncharacteristically nervous as he stood, waiting for the lynx point nursing-mother to reply. "of course i will nurse them, lechwehorn. but under a condition; you will visit them ever day, so that they may know you as their father, the parent who will raise them. they will not call me mother, but they may call me auntie. now. what are their names?" she reached over and picked up each kit quickly, placing them at her belly next to her own newborn who cuddled happily between the new sources of warmth. "the grey tom is pygmykit, and the calico molly is screechkit. thank you canyoncry, truly. i promise, i'll be the best father i can be to them."  
  


* * *

  
everything within the tribe of falling blossoms was so different to the way of life that streambare was used to living, and it both saddened and excited her. the tribe cats themselves were relatively friendly, and she found herself often getting stopped and asked questions about clan life. she did her best to answer them without putting her clan at risk; scarabclan was known for being a secretive clan, and so when she fulfilled other cats curiosities, she made sure never to specify where their clan lay hidden. as the days passed, streambare spent the majority of her days at the side of the larger silver tabby tom, thunder. he had been the one who found her when she stumbled into their territory, and for whatever reason, they had an immediate connection that continued to grow with every passing moment spent together. of course, she had met thunder's two siblings, pebble who was a hunter and wolf who, like thunder, was a guard. it was quite comical to some of the tribal cats as they watched the petite molly saunter through the clan's camp and territory with at least one of the three massive grey cats by her side at all times, all of whom made her appear like a newly appointed apprentice when by their sides, when in reality she was an average cat's size, it not slightly more petite.  
  
streambare felt herself getting into the routine of the tribe life, joining thunder on patrols occasionally. she learned the names of each cat in the tribe, taking time to really converse with them each and learn from their perspective & what they loved about the tribe life. the two longhair cats began to walk awfully close to one another, at times their tails would twist together, or at other times thunder's tail would rest on streambare's back as they walked. when they were in the camp, she found herself wandering from thunder's side and playing with the apprentices, specifically the younger ones who were hardly older than kits. they would play-wrestle, play hide-and-seek, play tag, and sometimes several apprentices would all sneak up behind her and tackle her at once. ice, storm, rye, and moon had come at her from behind, and had pinned the petite bicolor molly down, nipping at her from all angles; the sound of laughter filled the tribe's camp, and streambare's heterochromatic eyes looked up to meet the pale green eyes of thunder, who was standing off to the side with his siblings, a smile on each of their faces as they watched the young apprentices play with streambare.  
  
eventually, the apprentices were each called off by their mentors to train or patrol, or do something or another, and streambare pulled herself to her paws, shaking the dirt from her fur as she made her way to thunder's side, rubbing her head against his chest, a purr rumbling deep within her. "take a walk with me?" she asked him, and the large tom simply nodded as he followed her through the trees. the sun had begun to set by the time they finally stopped, laying down beside one another, their eyes looking up to watch the pretty colors of the sky as the sun lowered itself. "you're really good with them, by the way. the apprentices i mean. i bet you're just as good with kits." the silver tom's words were smooth, his handsome voice deep, and streambare purred as she rubbed her head against his. "i've never really had much of a chance to be around them. our territory is rather dangerous, so the kits typically are kept well-guarded. i-i've never thought of myself as a mother before... i always assumed that the young would tease me about my eyes, the way my fellow apprentices used to tease me growing up.." her voice trailed off towards the end, and thunder leaned down to lick her forehead gently. "have you seen any of the to-be's make fun of you here? no, they just love you for your personality. seeing the way you are with them, i'm sure you'd be a wonderful mother. besides, i think your eyes are beautiful." the molly purred as she leaned into him, the pair falling asleep curled beside one another.  
  


* * *

  
the white dominant red spotted molly had convinced her brother bonestar that her kits were old enough for her to visit the neighboring ally clans to check in with the other healers; something she used to do every few weeks before falling pregnant and having nursing kits. however, this time she convinced him (quite easily, as he was distracted by his own family), that two of her kits were curious about healing, and she wanted them to see if they should go down that path before officially being old enough to become apprentices. in truth, opuntiakit and nopalkit had been the most curious of her kits about their father, and while she had convinced them to keep quiet for the past three moons, she knew that the best life for them would be with their father in steamclan. and so, after eating a good meal and consuming some traveling herbs for strength, viperstrike helped her two kits clamber up the rocky cliffside before they began their trek through the endless sand. during the journey, viperstrike reminded her kits of what this journey met; they would meet their father, but they could never tell anyone that he was their father, and upon joining his clan, they had to pretend that she was not their mother. they were young, but at 3 moons old viperstrike believed they were old enough to understand what was going on, and she shared with them that if they forgot and told anyone, their parents would both be sentenced to a punishment that could be as bad as death.  
  
after several hours and many more stops than the healer normally took, they arrived at the border, and she immediately became far more on edge, her ears perked and swiveling; they passed the barn cats and she made sure to let out a few loud hisses in their direction to keep them at bay. finally, she arrived at the steamclan camp, and she let out a loud meow in greeting as her eyes met the clan's ringleader roachtrack before she locked eyes with the handsome havana brown tom who was the unexpected love of her life. opuntiakit and nopalkit hid underneath their mother's body, and it wasn't until she was a hare's-leap away from bitterstem before his eyes flashed down to the two kits, and immediately he grabbed one kit by the scruff, and so viperstrike picked up the other, following him into his den. "i'll be right back my loves." she whispered, before slipping back out and coming face to face with roachtrack, whose words were very charming but whose eyes held a darker curiosity; his question was simple, who were the kits and where did they come from? the molly's own voice was strong and sure as she spoke, loud enough for the listening clan cats to hear her lies; "i was on my way to visit with bitterstem and ask him some questions i have had lately, but on my way here, shortly after crossing the border into steamclan, i came across these two kits, who must have been abandoned shortly before i found them, since they still seem to be in good health." her words seemed to appease the cats, as roachtrack nodded to her before padding away.  
  
slipping back into her beloved's den, she saw her mate looking over the kits for any signs of sickness or injury. viperstrike couldnt help but chuckle as she quickly licked the tom over the ear. her words were very low as she spoke, so anyone outside of the den could tell they were talking but would be unable to understand the words. "bitterstem, meet your son nopalkit and your daughter opuntiakit. they have wanted to be with you from practically the moment they were born. i have told them about the change that this will bring in their life, but they have agreed to this new way of life, living with their father but never admitting publicly to being his kits. we have three other kits; peyotekit and saguarokit are two toms, and cereuskit is a molly. now, i assume you will want to rename them, since scarabclan must never recognize their names if they someday come across one another. i named them after types of cacti that grow in our territory, but its up to you now." the havana brown felt overwhelmed with love as his kits came forward and rubbed up against his front legs, waiting for him to speak as they mewed a few times. "nopalkit, from this day on you will be known as pricklekit, and opuntiakit, from now on you will go by bunnykit. i am so happy to meet you both, and i want you to know that no matter what, i love you both with all of my heart."  
  


* * *

  
it was really lilacdawn's idea; gloryrise never would have thought of it herself, but after the last gathering, apparently her sister had spoken not only to tigerstrike, her kits father, but also his clan's leader about them coming to spend some time with the kits in twistedclan. sunstar had known morningstar before she lost her last life, and as a way to honor the clan's former leader, the tom had agreed to allow her grandkits and their mother to spend a few moons with the clan. part of him hoped that gloryrise would allow at least one of the kits to stay in twistedclan when she returned home, as away for mornintstar's legacy to live on, but he knew better than to pressure the queen, or the kits father tigerstrike. apparently, only twistedclan's leader and deputy would be aware of the queen's pregnancy and upcoming arrival, but they promised a worried lilacdawn that her sister and kits would be welcome within the clan and would be safe. gloryrise had spoken to her own clan's pharaoh&nbspbonestar, who agreed as long as the molly took her sister for safety and promised to return within three moons.  
  
they had prepared for the journey for several days ahead of time; viperstrike and brookpaw had gathered some large aloe leaves to carry the tiny kits in, and they had made some bundles of traveling herbs to keep the two mollies strength up. the journey to any of the clan's borders was a fair travel, and with the added weight of the kits to carry, it would easily take the mollies at least a day going at a steady pace. both made sure to feed enough to fill their bellies, as well as quench their thirsts from the oasis' cool water. lilacdawn took the trio of pure black kits and wrapped them the large aloe leaf, making sure to put some cushion in there for them with some fur from a hare. gloryrise took the two tortoiseshells&nbspand one tabby and wrapped them in her own aloe leaf, providing them some softness from a hawk's feathers. and just like that, the two mollies began their short trip across the desert. they stopped a few times to allow the kits to nurse, as well as take their traveling herbs for strength, but they did not stop for very long, wanting to reach the safety of the trees that meant they were approaching twistedclan. the mollies made eye contact before bravely slipping across the border and into the neighboring clan's territory.  
  
it appeared that the gods were looking out for them, for only a few minutes of walking into the clan's territory, they came across a hunting patrol that sunstar was a part of. the tom warmly greeted the family, and lead the patrol back to camp, having his other five patrol cats surround the two mollies and six kits as a form of protection, just in case of any trouble. luckily, they made it to the camp without a hitch, and while there were numerous cats staring at them and whispering, sunstar led them to the nursery, saying he would return shortly. there were three other mollies in there, on who introduced herself as a permanent queen, one who was still pregnant, and one who had two kits several moons older than gloryrise's own. the two mollies unfolded the aloe leaves, setting them behind the nursing-mother as a form of protection, as gloryrise lay down and lilacdawn placed each of the six kits at their mothers side to nurse. soon, the twistedclan medicine cat apprentice volepaw arrived to check in on the family, and the small fluffy tom stated everyone was in good health. he hardly left the nursery before the bold orange tabby form of tigerstrike appeared, his eyes wide as he approached, gently rubbing his head against gloryrise's.  
  
"wow. we have six kits? have-have you named them already?" his eyes raised to meet her own, and for an odd change, the snarky molly smiled at him, nodding softly. she pointed first to two of the black kits; "these two black toms, i named after my parents. shinekit and umbrakit. this black tom i named riverkit, after your sister, and this tortoiseshell molly is cinderkit, after your sister. the orange tabby molly is rustkit, after your father, and then this tortoiseshell is morningkit, after your mother." sunstar had been standing in the entranceway of the nursery listening, and he couldnt help but feel he made the right choice in allowing the family to spend some time here. while they were not mates, clearly gloryrise cared for tigerstrike, if she remembered the names of his lost family members and went out of her way to name their kits after them. flicking his tail at his deputy, starlingsky, he murmered to her a few words; "we'll give them a few days to settle in before offically introducing them to the clan. come, lets leave them."


	17. "Losing" One's Kits

_viperstrike 'losing' her two kits somehow and the clan grieving._  
  
  
as viperstrike made her way back into her clan’s territory, now alone as she left her two kits with their father in steamclan. she wasn’t quite sure what she would tell her brother, or the rest of the clan to be honest. she knew that it would be hard for anyone to believe that viperstrike had let her kits go easily; she may be the clans healer, but she was also known as one of the most vicious fighters in the clan. she knew that she would have to play her part in a very convincing way... looking around, she spotted a lone acacia tree with a large nest about halfway up; she immediately knew that only one bird in these parts was big enough for a nest like that, and her plan began to formulate in her mind. slimming up the tree side, she saw the nest was empty, aside from two large eggs, and she knew the mother had to be nearby. having no desire to actually hurt the unborn birds, viperstrike made a loud hissing noise, wiggling around in the nest like she was going to pounce, but really she was just causing a ruckus. apparently it was enough, because the mother eagle was just sitting on a branch higher up in the tree, and it still out a loud screaming call as it barreled down on her, knocking her out of its nest. viperstrike attempted to catch the tree trunk with her claws to soften her fall, but instead she just managed to get more banged up before hitting the ground. it appeared as though the mothers call had brought its mate back to the area, for as viperstrike made her way to her paws and began to run, she had two very angry large birds dive bombing her from above.


	18. Tribal Love

cute mushy stuff about stream chilling in the tribe & falling in love with thunder.


	19. Anubis Arrives

The arrival of the newest fighter of Scarabclan had set many of the adults on edge around her, although many of the younger cats like kits and apprentices were absolutely obsessed with her. When they brought her back with them from the border patrol, into the clan, Marigolddawn, Daisystep, and Caimantooth immediately sought out Pharoah Bonestar and Queen Thornstar. The three fighters shared with their rulers the way that Gilapaw and Waterpaw had played with the stranger so trustingly, and how even Coralpaw had missed the slight narrowing of her yellow-green eyes or the slightest upcurl of a smirk to her maw at the approach of the cats disturbing her playtime with the apprentices.  
  
It had been a few days since that day, and Bonestar had informed his heir Sandpatch to keep an eye on the new molly, assigning three other of his most trusted warriors to this little ‘squad’ of sorts; Caimantooth, Coalcrypt, and Scorpionslash. At least one of them was always trailing Rottingcactus, keeping track of her and making sure she was never truly alone, especially not with any of the young apprentices that seemed so enamored by her.  
  
Well, once a week or so, all of the higher ranking cats of Scarabclan gathered together to discuss the good and the bad going on within the clan, to bring up anything that needed a second opinion. So inside Bonestar and Thornstar’s den sat Sandpatch, the priest Ghostspirit and his apprentice Locustpaw, and the healer Viperstrike and her apprentice Brookpaw. They were in the middle of a conversation about all of the newest apprentices of the clan, specifically the little prince and princesses, when a strange scratching noise came from the cliff’s edge of the ruler’s den. Immediately, all seven cats stood up, and watched as the black smoke tabby skillfully slipped over the edge, her sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight as she smirked at them.  
  
But something was different with the molly this time, something that caused the seven cats to stay where they stood, practically glued in place, and not leap to attack the molly; her eyes. Rottingcactus’ eyes were normally this sickening yellow-green color, but from the second she came over the edge of the cliff, they were not her eyes; they were solid white, with no iris or pupil or sclera, a white that glowed so brightly it pierced through the darkness. Those eyes were recognized by all seven cats as the glowing white eyes of the god Anubis, one of the three gods who they worshipped, who they all had seen or interacted with in dreams and visions over the moons. This recognition caused Rottingcactus’ wide-toothy smirk to grow even larger, a deep booming laugh shaking the walls of the den.  
  
“Good to know that you all still recognize me; it’s been awhile since any of you have spoken to us, to Ra or Bastet or myself, hasn’t it?” Those white eyes pierced into them, and the seven cats immediately fell to their front knees to bow down. It was Bonestar who spoke next, keeping his body still lowered but raising his blue eyes to meet the eyes of the god; “Oh mighty Anubis, god of the underworld, bringer of death and pestilence and retribution. For what reason do you show yourself to us in this way tonight?” That laugh began to boom again, lessening into a low growly-chuckle before he spoke again.  
  
“I stand before you today because your clan has angered the gods. For the crimes of ten, your entire clan will suffer. All must pay the penance. All must face the punishment. And at the end, all ten must admit to their crimes before the clan and repent to the gods. If even one fails to come forward, Scarabclan will fall into dust. Get ready. The plagues are coming.” And in an instant, the molly had collapsed on the ground, having seizure-like convulsions, and the healers rushed to her side, while the rest of the cats shared a look; what had they done?


	20. The First Plague

rottingcactus being taken over by anubis & delivering the first plague ; blood will last 1 moon due to aphidpaw's jealousy of foxleap.


	21. The Second Plague

aphidpaw comes clean to the clan about her attempt at poisoning foxleap. anubis (in rottingcactus' body) accepts her truthfulness & ends the blood, returning it to water.  
  
\----  
  
fallinglotus being taken over by goddess bastet & sharing the next plagues ; the frogs.

* * *

honeybeetle begging bastet not to kill her kits, to spare them, & she is given the option to give one to a neighboring clan, as long as it is never shared with the clan & they treat him as if he is dead. only the gods, splashfall of quickclan, canyoncry, honeybeetle, & canepaw will know the truth.


	22. The Third Plague

oryxstreak apologizes to the gods & tells the clan the frogs are caused by his adopting of three kits with no true scarabclan-blood running through their veins. bastet (in fallinglotus' body) accepts the truthfulness & ends the frogs, turning them to dust.   
  
\----  
  
blazingsun being taken over by god Ra & sharing the next plague ; the lice, everywhere, in every nook and cranny. 


	23. The Fourth Plague

gloryrise is absolutely distraught over the death of her son, and as she stands over his body, crying out, through her sobs she admits that while she cares for her kits father, she never planned to take him as her mate. ra (in blazingsun's body) accepts the truthfulness & ends the lice, having them just vanish.   
  
\----  
  
rottingcactus being taken over by god Anubis & sharing the next plague ; there are flies everywhere, destroying herbs & eating cat prey as soon as the cats wander away.


	24. The Fifth Plague

frostglaze attempts to pretend the plague has nothing to do with her but she is bombarded with nightmares about this being her fault. its only when gracklekit is killed that she comes clean about her desire to be leader again, her displeasure with how different things are from her old clan. anubis (in rottingcactus body) accepts the truthfulness & ends the lice, having them just vanish.  
  
\----  
  
fallinglotus being taken over by god Bastet & sharing the next plague ; livestock, random bouts of cats starving out of no where.


	25. The Sixth Plague

sandpatch is horrified by the death of his littermate, and immediately knows by the way his brother died that this plague was his fault. he admits to the gods & the clan that he has still been visiting with his kittypet mother; the plague of the livestock ends.  
  
\----  
  
blazingsun being taken over by god Ra & sharing the next plague ; boils.


	26. The Seventh Plague

  
brookpaw has to be pulled from the still body of jadewish, hard sobs racking her body and causing her to hyperventilate. through her cries, she screeches out that he was her father before admitting to have accidentally killed her littermate by providing him the wrong herb/berry before she joined scarabclan.  
  
\----  
  
rottingcactus being taken over by god Anubis & sharing the next plague ; a storm of hail in the middle of the desert. 


	27. The Eighth Plague

coalcrypt hisses and groans about his now blindness in what was his good eye, and unhappily admits that as an apprentice he had sought out to hurt those who had bullied him as a kit, eventually driving them from the clan in fear of his anger.

* * *

  
fallinglotus being taken over by goddess Bastet & sharing the next plague ; a swarm of locust who eat everything in their paths. 

* * *

  
Pyxiskit, cruxkit, and aquilakit; they were six moons old today, which meant that once the clan was awake and able to gather, a meeting would be called to announce the kits new names as they were apprenticed to various hunters or fighters of the clan. But that wasnt the only thing it meant; it also meant it had been four moons since the ghostly white shaman had seen the love of his life. Four moons since he had looked into the blue and green heterochromatic eyes of the tabby bicolor tom. Four moons since he had felt the thick fur brushing against his own short fur as they curled together, grooming each other in the pale glow of the moonlight. When he picked up the three kits during their last rendevoir, he had told his mate that things were bad in scarabclan, that the gods were angry, and that it would be several moons until they would be able to see each other again; he had done it for agaricthroat’s own safety, but every passing day, he missed the other tom more deeply than before. And he knew that after today it would only get worse.

You see, for the past four moons, he had kept the three kits in the healer’s den with viperstrike, claiming that he swore he heard wetness in their lungs or coughing while they slept; they would be brought back to the nursing queens to feed, and then returned to the healer’s den for the rest of the time each day, just to be ‘safe’. He had told only one cat in the clan that the kits were his own, and that was the healer viperstrike, the molly with whom he had been assigned mates to, before he had met agaricthroat and started their little family. Viperstrike was a grouchy bitch of a cat, but she had secrets of her own, and so she agreed to keep his secret by lying about the kits health, and allowing him to spend time with them as he ‘prayed over them’, as was the shaman’s job for any cats who were sick. But today was their six moon birthday, and viperstrike said she would give them a clean bill of health when bonestar arrived that morning to ask if they were well enough to begin apprentice tasks.

With viperstrike standing at the entrance of the cave, ghostspirit curled around his kits tighter, never wanting to have to let them go. Only when his assigned mate cleared her throat did he finally look up, meeting her olive green eyes with his own pure blue ones, and his large ears strained to hear the whispers of her voice. “The sun is beginning to rise. The clan will awaken soon. You should wake them up, start grooming them, so they look their best for the ceremony.” with a deep sigh and a heavy heart, the white tom nodded, slowly getting up to a seated position, where he began to nuzzle the three kits, starting with his little long-limbed daughter that reminded him of himself, then his orange son that looked much like their surrogate mother sunsplash, and finally the white and cream tom whose markings reminded him of his beloved mate. As the kits started to squirm awake, the pale tom began gently grooming them, humming a soft lullaby that his mother used to sing to him as a kit to distract their minds.


	28. The Ninth Plague

thornstar weeps over the dead body of one of her kits, and stands before the clan at the leader's highrock, admitting to everyone that her and ghostspirit are not actual siblings, but that she was secretly adopted by their parents on the same day their mother gave birth to ghost.   
  
\----  
  
blazingsun being taken over by god Ra & sharing the next plague ; complete darkness taking over the territory for a full moon, every day looking like the night.


	29. The Tenth Plague

ghostspirit coming out to the clan about his mate in ravenclan, agaricthroat, and how cruxpaw, aquilapaw, and pyxispaw are his kits.   
\----

exactly a moon had passed since the last plague had begun, and everyone in the clan knew what that meant; the next one was coming today. those who had been fully paying attention, mainly the higher ranking cats, knew the significance of what today was though; this was the start of the tenth moon, the tenth plague, the final plague... it was so close to being over that they could practically feel it in their bones, could almost see it on the horizon. a handful of cats wound their way through the camp, entering each of the dens and rising the cats to gather for a meeting below the pharaoh's high rock. the clan was a mixture of silent stares and nervous whispers as they watched the form of the lean-bodied smoke tabby molly climb her way up the rocky cliffside to stand between bonestar and thornstar   
  
rottingcactus being taken over by god Anubis & sharing the last plague ; death of the firstborn. 


	30. New Laws

viperstrike weeping over the death of her son. admitting to having a secret mate in steamclan, & comes clean about not really losing 2 of her kits, but taking them to live with their father.  
  


* * *

  
the gods giving the new laws to the clan.  
announcement 3 new ranks - royal family, enforcers and advanced.  
Ra announces - caimantooth, scorpionslash, coalcrypt, and raggedsnap are appointed as enforcers.  
Anubis announces - viperstrike & ghostspirit are demoted to "advanced" - still allowed to aid in their former duties, but not as the primary priest & healer anymore - almost as though they were apprentices again.  
Ra announces - brookpaw is promoted from healer apprentice to full healer and given the name brookberry. locustpaw is promoted from priest apprentice to full priest and given the name locustbuzz.  
  
bastet announces new assigned mating law; relationships outside the clan are now forbidden. those who have mates from before this law was put in place are allowed to keep them as not to break apart families, but no new mates will be allowed. any caught breaking this rule will lose a limb as punishment. cats will typically be announced in their pairings between the ages of 20 and 25 moons. "now let me be clear. love comes in many shapes and forms, and all will not just be tolerated but fully accepted within scarabclan. there are cats who have enough love in their hearts for multiple mates, cats who wish to have a mate of the same gender, and cats who wish to never take a mate. this is seen and honored by the gods; for any of these reasons, as well as if a cat for any other reason feels uncomfortable taking a mate by the time of 20 moons, they are to come before the gods in prayer to let them know and their request will be honored." she looked out at the crowd, her expression unreadable, and she could see the widened eyes and perked ears of the clan, all taking in her every word, and the goddess couldnt help the small smile she allowed onto her face. "i will add that any pairs who are not comfortable with one another for any reason and at any point in time, whether it be lack of love or something else, are fully welcomed to come before myself in prayer and i will break the union, should this be the pair's wish. in this type of situation, neither cat will be made to to take another mate, unless they so desire to at any point in the future." The gray tabby's eyes narrowed as she looked out at the crowd. "let me also say this. should any cat be seen mistreating their mate, whether it be with their words or their actions, they will be banished from the clan without hesitation. there is no room for cruelty that claims to be love.  
  
bastet announces aquilapaw and agavenectar as the first assigned pair, cruxpaw and haworthiapaw, and pyxispaw and echeveriapaw - claiming this has been chosen to continue the bloodline that was intended to be mixed by their parents. "do you accept these pairings, seen in the eyes of the gods?" she asks the six young cats, a kind smile on her face as her eyes met the orbs of each cat of the pairings. aquilapaw and agavenectar stepped forward first, sharing a look before nodding to the goddess. "I accept with honor, goddess." said the grey tom. "and i accept as well, gladly goddess." the calico molly spoke confidently, moving closer to the next pharaoh, and their tails intertwined as they smiled at the goddess and the clan gathered behind them. their littermates stepped up behind them, with the dilute tortoiseshell laying her tail over the blind ginger tom's back to guide him forward, with the both of them accepting their assignment; cruxpaw even muttered something about thinking haworthia was the most beautiful molly he had ever seen, before his sight was taken from him. the cream bicolor tom and dilute oriental tabby came up last, with pyxis resting his tail over the molly's rump in a sign of protection, both agreeing to their pairing as well, a shy smile on the introverted echeveria's face as a blush warmed her cheeks.  
  
she will take one moon to think, then speak to the priest with the rest of her assignments.


	31. Mates are Assigned

raggedsnap stating he is not yet ready for a mate; bastet smiles and appreciates his honesty.  
  
rottingcactus is not yet assigned a mate as no one her age is available for her. she states she is ready however, whenever a suitor arrives.  
  
marigolddawn and daisystep come out and say they have been mates for several moons now.  
  
bastet shares the following assigned pairs ;   
_sandpatch and lilacdawn.  
locustbuzz and brookberry.  
caimantooth and elkdapple.  
scorpionslash and flameskimmer.  
frostglaze and buzzardblaze.  
crackleclaw and lechwehorn.  
foxleap and bitterapple.  
blazingsun and fallinglotus.  
hyenacackle and gilacrush.  
pyrelight and pricklypear.  
mantelladart and diamondfreeze.  
ocotillosplatter and coppertooth.  
corallurk and peyotevision.  
cereusbloom and oasissight.  
dunefur and waterslip  
dayglow and scorchback.  
screechclaw and cremecurl.  
fennecfox and gloryrise.  
bumbletumble and toxicaphid.  
weaselheart and ostrichrun.  
ripplewind and wheatcloud.  
crocusjolt and beetlescuttle.  
lostriver and daturapetals.  
cinderburn and pygmycry.  
umbrastone and chaparrelrun.  
riverrace and grouseflesh.  
rustpelt and verdinwing.  
_  
anubis, bastet, and ra leave the bodies of their hosts blazingsun, fallinglotus, and rottingcactus.


	32. New Pairing

rottingcactus is assigned to the new tom russetsand after locustbuzz prays to the gods to assure this is bastet's wish.


	33. Arrival of A Demi-God

shrikewhistle & jaggedstripe join & decide to become mates, to raise their kits together as one big family. twistvine is happy for her best friend & then tells the clan pharaoh that she is a lesbian, for when a mate comes across for her.  
\---  
honeybeetle is a mess at the death of oryxstreak & gets close to the new molly twistvine as she needs comfort.

* * *

Originally born by the name of 'pointy' by her parents due to her unique tail. well they were actually a part of a strange two-leg society that worshiped the old egyptian gods, the same ones that the scarabclan cats believes in, such as ra, anubis, and bastet. they lived in this community existing underneath the same, hidden beneath an ancient crumbling set of ruins, with the most intricate tunnels and extravagant temples carved out of the sands. well these two-legs still followed the old believes that cats had the power to bring luck and prosperity to those who cared for them, which is why these two-legs kept cats not as kitty-pets per say but as companions who were respected in the highest order. pointy's parents were some of these cats, but when pointy was born with the unique scorpion tail, the two-legs looked at her as though she were a half-god (daughter of goddess serket), and basically worshiped her; pointy heard every single day that she was a 'gift sent to them directly from the gods'. she lived a life of pure luxury, being given everything she could have ever asked for to live peacefully and keep herself comfortable.

However, there was a day where out of no where things began to change. a young tom arrived at their sanctuary who had long, curvy goat-like horns like the god khnum, and just like pointy, he was considered a half-god. the two-legs never threatened to replace her with him; in fact with his arrival, they made sure to provide both cats with equal amounts of love and attentiveness. any normal cat would have been content to live in this new changed lifestyle, but pointy was no normal cat; she had always been full of jealousy and discontent when other cats would be receiving attention from the two-legs, as soon as their back was turned she would chase off the other cat, and then go back to purring and rubbing against the two-leg when they returned. so now that she was being forced to share everything with this new tom-cat, known as spike, this internal envy turned to a deeper sort of bitterness. things came to a boiling point one night as the two-legs slept, when pointy confronted spike in one of the winding corridors. "why dont you just leave? you are not wanted here. this has been my home for longer than you have been alive. and i dont like sharing. you have changed everything and i dont like it. i'll give you until the morning sun rises to disappear." her eyes were narrowed, ears pinned, and teeth bared as her words snarled out, and she turned her back to walk away from him.

But her body froze completely as the young tom called out to her, his normally soft-spoken and calm voice having an oddly sharp tone to it. "this is my home now too. if you want me to leave, you're going to have to force me out yourself." pointy felt every individual hair on body stand straight up, and as she slowly turned back to face him, her eyes held a glint more malicious than ever before. "so be it." only a second passed before she leapt at him, and the fight was a fury of claws and teeth and blood. pointy knew she didnt have alot of time before their loud yowls would wake the humans, and so she worked hard and fast to ensure that the fight was over in a matter of minutes, with her panting body standing over his still one. but she didn’t correctly judge the amount of time it took the two-legs to get from their rooms to the ‘crime-scene’ and before she had time to get away, she was caught red-handed. the two-legs were beyond horrified and completely shocked by what they had found, but the truth was obvious; pointy had murdered spike. and for this crime, she was cast out of the only home she had ever known, abandoned in the desert with no clue what she was going to do next.


	34. Interesting Backstories

As she lay in the nursing-mothers den for the second time during her life in Scarabclan, with Viperstrike assisting her labor, she couldn’t even think of the kits that she was bringing into the world at the moment, but distracted herself from the pain by thinking of her plans. Her first litter of kits were all grown up now; Thrasherglimpse, Verdinwing, Towheescour, Chaparrelrun, and Grouseflesh. She still thought of her sixth kit, Gracklekit, who had gone on to join the stars before ever beginning their training, but she was thankful to still have five grown kits flourishing. As Frostglaze was finally able to relax, the oriental healer shared that she had given birth to three kits, two toms and one molly, before leaving the new family to get some rest. 

* * *

  
ShellScute backstory. Shell & Cove. Best friends. Pregnant. 


End file.
